"It's
Been Real" - Secret password of the EEFMS (Early Eyeball
Fraternal Marching Society), a fan club inspired by the antics of
comedian Ernie Kovacs when he starred on 3 TO GET READY comedy
morning show on WPTZ in Philadelphia in the early 1950s.

Original members of the EEFMS club included Trigger
Lund, Gertrude the doll, Ernie Kovacs, Andy McKay, Sandy Stewart and
Bernie Leighton. In an 1953 publicity photograph, all of these
members were seen placing the tip of their left index finger
over their left eyelid.

The group's membership card displayed a logo of a half-closed eye,
the words EEFMS WPTZ CHANNEL 3 and a secret pass-phrase "It's been
real." The reverse side of the card listed the following eligibility
rules:

1.

An EEFM is:

A-

male or a female;

B-

or interested in either political party;

2.

An EEFM never sleeps later than 8:03 .

A-

Unless he or she is deathly ill,

B-

Unless he or she is deathly..er..dead, that is;

C-

Unless the EEFM is sleepy;

3.

An EEFM makes less that $987,648,001.23 per annum. (Slightly higher
in the South and South West);

4.

An EEFM may not raise ostriches or parsley without written permission of EEFM-1.

TRIVIA NOTE: The club's password
"It's been real" was a phrase that was popular after World War II.
At the end of each show, this phrase would pop up in some strange
place, such as beneath a broom, under a banana peel or on top of a
bald man's head.